The Christmas and New Years holidays are now over and the news in the Disney Community is a little slow, so how about we delve into the area of the movies and podcasts.
If you are not already subscribed to Disney Magic Hour I suggest that you at least check it out and if you like it, please give it a 5-Star review and subscribe to it. I personally love this show. It is one of my favorite shows. If you are a fan of Disney movies along with the movie studios that fall under the Disney umbrella, this the show for you. Pete has also put together a great community page on Facebook. I was introduced to the show and the host, Peter Tedone, on the WDW Radio Show. This show, which publishes weekly, primarily focuses on Disney movies and timely discussion of Disney news. One of the more popular types of shows that they put out is the “Tournament Bracket” shows where Pete and the gang pit various themes/movies against each other to find the “best of”.
About a month ago, on Show 116 (December 3, 2017), Pete and the gang put together a PIXAR Bracket Tournament, pitting all of the Pixar movies against each other.
Here is the initial bracket –
On the show, the movie WALL-E was chosen as the winner of the tournament.
Here is how my bracket shakes out…
Opening Round –
Monsters University vs. The Good Dinosaur
While neither of these movies is a great movie (by Pixar standards) by any means and I do find Monsters University funny there are just too many plot holes in its connection to Monsters, Inc. for me to totally accept this movie. And….I do like The Good Dinosaur. It’s not Pixar’s best effort by any means, but I did like it. It’s a ‘Buddy Western’ set in the Jurassic Period. This movie gets my vote because I like it a bit better.
WINNER – The Good Dinosaur
Cars vs. Cars 3
This is a hard one for me since I like both of these movies. My nod goes to Cars because it was the original and without it we wouldn’t have Cars Land in Disney California Adventure.
WINNER – Cars
Brave vs. Cars 2
While Brave has its faults, the music is wonderful and the background art is gorgeous. I could go on about how this movie is better, but come on, we’re talking Cars 2 here.
WINNER – Brave
Round 1 –
Toy Story vs. The Good Dinosaur
Is this even a contest? The Good Dinosaur is cute, but come on, we’re talking Toy Story here.
WINNER – Toy Story
Toy Story 2 vs. The Incredibles
This might be one of the hardest early round decisions. Both of these movies prior to this tournament are in my Top 5 Pixar movies. I really like both of these movies….a lot. I found Toy Story 2 to be very good. We get new toys introduced to the world of toys and we care about them. If you don’t well up a little during “Jesse’s Song” there might seriously be something wrong with you. With that being said, The Incredibles is a nearly a perfect superhero movie. Fans of this movie are finally going to get what we’ve been asking for thirteen years….a sequel. I guess that I just like The Incredibles more.
WINNER – The Incredibles
Inside Out vs. A Bugs Life
Okay….this is also going to be a hard decision for me, but not for what you think. I’m not a huge fan of either movie. A Bugs Life has always ranked near the bottom of my list of Pixar movies. And I’ll openly admit here that I know I’m in the vast minority about Inside Out, but I thought it was only okay. It just didn’t appeal to me as much as it did for other people. Pixar really didn’t do anything in this movie that made me care for what happened to any of the characters. Even though I’m not crazy about either of these movies, Inside Out scratches out a victory here.
WINNER – Inside Out
Ratatouille vs. Finding Dory
While I enjoyed Finding Dory especially considering that it was a sequel to a movie (Finding Nemo) that wasn’t necessarily asking for a sequel. It was a cute movie. In Ratatouille Pixar got us to care about rats, and not just any rats, rats in a restaurant. This movie has also ranked high in my lists of favorite Pixar movies.
WINNER – Ratatouille
WALL-E vs. Cars
I really liked Cars….I really did. I wasn’t sure going in whether I’d like it or not, but the more I watched it, them more I liked it. I also didn’t know what to expect going into WALL-E. WALL-E is on an entire different level. This movie has absolutely no dialogue for the first 20 minutes or so, yet you care about what’s going on. You care about a robot….and a cockroach. Even when the humans do show up in the movie you still care about the robots. This is a great movie.
WINNER – WALL-E
Up vs. Coco
This match up is not really fair because I have not seen Coco. I’ve heard great things about the movie though. Up like WALL-E has a portion of the movie with no dialogue….only music that is wonderfully done. I loved Up and I have no doubt that I’d love Coco, but I have to go with Up because I’ve seen Coco. Once I see Coco the vote on this could change.
WINNER – Up
Toy Story 3 vs. Brave
Toy Story 3 very well could be the best movie of the Toy Story franchise. It wraps up the trilogy wonderfully. I don’t care who you are, if you’re not moved or well up at the end of the movie, I have doubts about you. As I said earlier, Brave is a beautiful movie. The music is beautiful. Kelly Macdonald as the voice of Merida is great. The problem is the story….too much time is spent with “my Mom is a bear” and that part drags. This isn’t close…..Toy Story 3 gets the vote.
WINNER – Toy Story 3
Finding Nemo vs. Monsters, Inc.
I really like both of these movies. Both are enjoyable and both are wonderfully done. Great animation and great stories and plots. This comes down to two characters Marlin from Finding Nemo and Boo from Monsters, Inc. I’m not a fan of Albert Brooks and after awhile the Marlin character gets annoying. Boo….is cute. In fact, when my daughter was two or three we liked to call her Boo because she reminded us of the character. Boo wins.
WINNER – Monsters, Inc.
Quarter Finals –
Toy Story vs. The Incredibles
Okay, I didn’t say much about Toy Story earlier because not much needed to be said. Toy Story started it all. We wouldn’t even be having this tournament if this movie hadn’t worked and been a success. Twenty-two years later this movie still holds up. Like the battle earlier with Toy Story 2, The Incredibles is still a more fun movie for me. I love both movies. Both movies are in my Top 5 of Pixar movies. Elasti-Girl stretches for a photo finish here.
WINNER – The Incredibles
Inside Out vs. Ratatouille
As I mentioned earlier, I thought Inside Out was only an okay movie. So it comes down to rats that Pixar made me care about or characters that they didn’t make me care about….rats win.
WINNER – Ratatouille
WALL-E vs. Up
Both of these movies are among my favorites of Pixar movies. I just like WALL-E better.
WINNER – WALL-E
Toy Story 3 vs. Monsters, Inc.
Another match up of my Pixar favorites. I will watch and have watched either of these movies when ever they’re on. I really like both of them. They are both well done. The emotional ending of Toy Story 3 gives it the edge.
WINNER – Toy Story 3
Semi-Finals –
The Incredibles vs. Ratatouille
Have I mentioned how much I really like The Incredibles? As mentioned earlier, I also really like Ratatouille but we’re talking Superheroes against a cooking rat. Both really good movie, but Dash crosses the finish line first.
WINNER – The Incredibles
WALL-E vs. Toy Story 3
Both of these movies are great movies. I’m not sure I can add much to what I’ve already said. Robots vs. toys…..robots win.
WINNER – WALL-E
Final –
The Incredibles vs. WALL-E
Can we give the trophy to both? No? I seriously cannot wait until the sequel to The Incredibles comes out. Why? Because I love this movie. I love the Parr family and I love the villains. WALL-E is a great movie too, but when I’m looking for my super-suit because the world is in danger….I’m going with the supers.
CHAMPION – The Incredibles
I hope you enjoyed this tournament. Now for my ranking of Pixar movies. I will admit that after listening to the show and doing my own bracket the ranking of some of my movies have moved. Please note (as mentioned above) I have not seen Coco, so it’s ranking is purely based on what I’ve read and heard.
PIXAR MOVIE RANKING –
- The Incredibles
- WALL-E
- Toy Story 3
- Toy Story
- Ratatouille
- Toy Story 2
- Up
- Coco
- Monsters, Inc.
- Cars
- Finding Nemo
- Cars 3
- Finding Dory
- Brave
- Monsters U
- The Good Dinosaur
- Inside Out
- A Bugs Life
- Cars 2
Listening to the show that this article has been based on was very thought provoking as was writing this article. I really had to re-think about what I thought of the movies and how I had them ranked. How do you have the Pixar movies ranked? Did you do your own tournament?
That’s it for today. See you next time.
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